Abscess (2024)

An abscess is a painful collection of pus, usually caused by a bacterial infection. Abscesses can develop anywhere in the body. See your GP if you think you may have one. They usually won’t get better without treatment.

Symptoms of an abscess

The symptoms of an abscess depend on where it develops in your body.

Skin abscesses

Signs of a skin abscess can include:

a smooth swelling under your skin that can feel hard or firm
pain and tenderness in the affected area
warmth and redness in the affected area
a visible build-up ofwhite or yellow pus under the skin in the affected area
a high temperature (fever)
chills

Aboilis a common example of a skin abscess.

Internal abscesses

Abscesses that developinside an organ or in the spaces between organs can be more difficult to identify than skin abscesses.

The symptoms can be vague. There may be no obvious external signs of a problem.

The symptoms of an internal abscess can also vary. This depends on exactly where in the body the abscess develops.

For example, a liver abscess may causejaundice, while an abscess in or near the lungs may cause acoughorshortness of breath.

When to see your GP

See your GP if you think you may have an abscess.

They can examine a skin abscess or refer you to hospital for investigations if they suspect that you may have an internal abscess.

There are several tests available to help diagnose an abscess. They will depend on where it's located on, or in, your body.

Causes of abscesses

Most abscesses are caused by a bacterial infection.

When bacteria enter your body, your immune system sends infection-fighting white blood cells to the affected area.

As the white blood cells attack the bacteria, some nearby tissue dies. This creates a holewhich thenfills with pus to form an abscess.

Treating an abscess

A small skin abscess may drain naturally, or simply shrink, dry upanddisappear without any treatment.

Preventing a skin abscess

Most skin abscesses are caused bybacteria getting into aminor wound, the root of a hair or a blocked oil or sweat gland.

Ensuring that your skin is clean, healthy and largely free of bacteria can help reduce the risk of skin abscesses developing.

You can reduce the risk of bacteria spreading by:

washing your hands regularly
encouraging people in your family to wash their hands regularly
using separate towels and not sharing baths
waiting until your skin abscess is fully treated and healed before using any communal equipment, such as gym equipment, saunas orswimming pools

Don't squeeze the pus out of the abscess yourself. This is because this can easily spread the bacteria to other areas of your skin.

If you use tissues to wipe any pus away from your abscess, dispose of themstraight away to avoid germs spreading. Wash your hands after you've disposed of the tissues.

Take care when shaving your face, legs, underarm areas or bikini area to avoid nicking your skin. Clean any wounds immediately.

Don't share razors or toothbrushes.

Itmay also help to reduce your risk ofskin abscesses by:

maintaining a healthy, balanceddiet
losing weightif you're overweight or obese
stopping smoking

It's difficult to prevent internal abscesses, as they're often complications of other conditions.

Other types of abscess

There are many other types of abscess including:

an anorectal abscess–a build-up of pus in the rectum and anus
aBartholin's abscess–a build-up of pus inside one of the Bartholin's glands, which are found on each side of the opening of the vagin*
abrain abscess–a rare but potentially life-threatening build-up of pus inside the skull
adental abscess–a build-up of pus under a tooth orin the supporting gum and bone
aquinsy (peritonsillar abscess)–a build-up of pus between one of your tonsils and the wall of your throat
apilonidal abscess–a build-up of pus in the skin of the cleft of the buttocks (where the buttocks separate)
a spinal cord abscess–a build-up of pus around the spinal cord